News Writing

LOGAN, Utah — Find what you love to do and you will be successful at it, was the message USU alumna gave JCOM staff and students during Friday’s speech.

“You must love your job so much you would pay to do it,” was Amanda Butterfield’s secret to success.

Butterfield obtained a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from USU in 2001. After graduation she worked in Bend, Ore. as the weather and news anchor. She is currently a co-anchor for KSL Television.

Butterfield explained that her first job was a replica of her broadcasting class at USU. “You feel like you don’t have enough information, but you have to report anyways,” Butterfield said. Her starting pay was $18,000 a year. “I thought, you’ve got to be kidding me, they are paying me to do this,” Butterfield said.

“You never know what you’ll do every day, that is why I love reporting so much,” Butterfield said. She explained there are no Monday through Friday, 9-5 workdays in broadcast. Butterfield has had to work every holiday for the past five years and has loved every minute of it. You should enjoy your job so much it won’t bother you to work on holidays, Butterfield said.

“If people don’t like what they see they will change the channel,” Butterfield said. Her goal is to practice good journalism that answers questions like, “why should I care?” “The challenge of an anchor is to get people to stop and listen,” Butterfield said.

Butterfield advised JCOM students on how to succeed in broadcast. “Read The New York Times everyday online. Read a lot, write a lot, pay attention and repeat,” she said. Pay attention to details in your writing classes because writing is a big deal, Butterfield said

Butterfields image of success was never money and fame, but being able to report. Since she was a child she wanted to be on Television. Now she is doing what she loves every day of the week and getting paid to do it.